Utah Master Thread

[mimb]

Flying from JFK-LAS on an early Sunday flight until a red-eye flight back Thursday. Any suggestions on how to break up my time between zion, bryce, canyonlands, antelope canyon etc? Just the wife and I, we are in fairly good shape and like hiking

[aarony]

Which dates?

Flying from JFK-LAS on an early Sunday flight until a red-eye flight back Thursday. Any suggestions on how to break up my time between zion, bryce, canyonlands, antelope canyon etc? Just the wife and I, we are in fairly good shape and like hiking

[mimb]

Which dates?

Nov 24-28

[Traveler718]

With that limited amount of time, something has to go. I vote for Canyonlands, which is the most out of your way and the least interesting of the parks. I would go straight from the airport to Zion, which is closest and has the most to see and do, and spend the rest of Sunday exploring the park. Monday I would hike Angels Landing or the Narrows (is it open this time of year?), then drive to Bryce.

If you can stay in or near the park, I loved going down into the hoodoos at night with a flashlight. Tuesday hike the loop there down into the hoodoos and drive to the lookouts, then on to Page. Wednesday you could see Antelope Canyon and Horseshoe Bend, then drive to the North Rim of the GC. Spend Thursday at the GC, then drive to LAS for return flight.

It's definitely a busy itinerary, but quite doable for 2 active adults without any kids.

[aarony]

I agree that you should skip canyonlands on this trip.  Make sure to check if Grand Canyon north rim is still open, it will depend on whether there was a major snow fall yet.  See more info here

https://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/north-rim.htm

You may be better off doing the south rim, coming from Page you would enter via the East gate. 

Here are my recommendations

Drive straight to Zion from Las.   (About 2.5 hours)there is a Walmart in hurricane Utah that is on the way if you need any supplies.   Stay in Springdale Sunday night.  So you have Sunday afternoon and Monday in Zion.  It will be too cold in the water for the narrows hike.  Definitely do angels landing if you want a challenging rewarding hike.  You can use the park shuttle system to see most of the canyon on Sunday and then do angels landing Monday morning. Drive to Bryce Monday before dark so you have a full day on Tuesday to do the queen’s garden- Navajo loop plus any other hikes and viewpoints that you want to do.  Drive to page az on Tuesday before dark (2.5 hours) and do lower antelope canyon and the horseshoe bend  on Wednesday morning.  (There is a Walmart in page if you need more supplies).    Drive to Grand Canyon south rim on Wednesday afternoon so you get both sunset and sunrise at the canyon.  I would do sunset on the rim trail wherever it’s convenient and sunrise at ooh ah point.  Try to get a room at the canyon it is definitely worth it especially for a trip like this. There are often last minute cancellations.  The drive back to Las Vegas is 4.5 hours.  If you have time you will want to eat a nice dinner after a week on the run. 

Some things to note-
Las Vegas is on pacific time, most of your itinerary is on mountain time. You will lose an hour on the drive to Zion and gain an hour on the way back to Las Vegas.  Your phones times may be wrong at times, if you have a watch use that to confirm what time it is.  Sunrise on the trip will be at about 7 and sunset around 5.

For  sunset when sightseeing you want to be there approximately an hour before to watch the changing colors in the cloud reflections. 

Some of the drives seem long but the scenery along the way is beautiful in many places.  Don’t look at this as just “traveling time”

If you somehow have extra time traveling from Bryce to page then you can stop at Wirepass canyon between kanab and page for a nice hike but this will add an hour of traveling time besides the actual hike.  A much shorter diversion is the “toadstools” hike. 

If you have extra time in page you can do some kayaking on lake Powell- make sure it is not too windy though.  I kayaked antelope canyon (very diff area than the antelope canyon “hike”) and found it beautiful and peaceful.
 

[Dawie]

I agree that you should skip canyonlands on this trip.  Make sure to check if Grand Canyon north rim is still open, it will depend on whether there was a major snow fall yet.  See more info here

https://www.nps.gov/grca/planyourvisit/north-rim.htm

You may be better off doing the south rim, coming from Page you would enter via the East gate. 

Here are my recommendations

Drive straight to Zion from Las.   (About 2.5 hours)there is a Walmart in hurricane Utah that is on the way if you need any supplies.   Stay in Springdale Sunday night.  So you have Sunday afternoon and Monday in Zion.  It will be too cold in the water for the narrows hike.  Definitely do angels landing if you want a challenging rewarding hike.  You can use the park shuttle system to see most of the canyon on Sunday and then do angels landing Monday morning. Drive to Bryce Monday before dark so you have a full day on Tuesday to do the queen’s garden- Navajo loop plus any other hikes and viewpoints that you want to do.  Drive to page az on Tuesday before dark (2.5 hours) and do lower antelope canyon and the horseshoe bend  on Wednesday morning.  (There is a Walmart in page if you need more supplies).    Drive to Grand Canyon south rim on Wednesday afternoon so you get both sunset and sunrise at the canyon.  I would do sunset on the rim trail wherever it’s convenient and sunrise at ooh ah point.  Try to get a room at the canyon it is definitely worth it especially for a trip like this. There are often last minute cancellations.  The drive back to Las Vegas is 4.5 hours.  If you have time you will want to eat a nice dinner after a week on the run. 

Some things to note-
Las Vegas is on pacific time, most of your itinerary is on mountain time. You will lose an hour on the drive to Zion and gain an hour on the way back to Las Vegas.  Your phones times may be wrong at times, if you have a watch use that to confirm what time it is.  Sunrise on the trip will be at about 7 and sunset around 5.

For  sunset when sightseeing you want to be there approximately an hour before to watch the changing colors in the cloud reflections. 

Some of the drives seem long but the scenery along the way is beautiful in many places.  Don’t look at this as just “traveling time”

If you somehow have extra time traveling from Bryce to page then you can stop at Wirepass canyon between kanab and page for a nice hike but this will add an hour of traveling time besides the actual hike.  A much shorter diversion is the “toadstools” hike. 

If you have extra time in page you can do some kayaking on lake Powell- make sure it is not too windy though.  I kayaked antelope canyon (very diff area than the antelope canyon “hike”) and found it beautiful and peaceful.
 

+1000

and if you do the south rim you can stop on the way back to Vegas at the Hoover dam

[mimb]

This is very useful, thank you. Was planning on staying at SpringHill suites in Zion but it's 40k a night. Hyatt place in SGU is only 5k a night. Where did you stay during your trips, wondering if I should splurge?

[aarony]

In Springdale I stayed at cable mountain inn.  I am not sure what rates  are like now but in the summer it was helpful to be as close to the entrance of Zion as possible so we did not have to deal with parking. The days are quite short at the end of November so you want to minimize any extra travel.  If you stay in st George then you will only have Monday in Zion.  (You can do snow canyon in st George on Sunday which is nice, but I would not recommend that because you really need the time for Zion)

[Traveler718]

We also stayed at Cable Mt. Lodge, which is literally just across a bridge from the entrance to the park. I assume off-peak rates should be reasonable, and on a trip like this, time is of the essence, so it's worth paying for convenience. You don't have to stay there, but I would definitely stay somewhere in Springdale.

[mimb]

Thanks, so will definitely keep the Springhill for at least the Zion days. Maybe Hyatt Place in SGU for grand canyon day. Is the closest kosher options in Scottsdale which would be too far away?

[Dawie]

Thanks, so will definitely keep the Springhill for at least the Zion days. Maybe Hyatt Place in SGU for grand canyon day. Is the closest kosher options in Scottsdale which would be too far away?

Scottsdale is way too far for anything youre thinking of

[aarony]

Thanks, so will definitely keep the Springhill for at least the Zion days. Maybe Hyatt Place in SGU for grand canyon day. Is the closest kosher options in Scottsdale which would be too far away?

to make this trip work you cannot circle back to st george. (st george is very nice - i spent lots of time there - but that is not what you are going for on this trip.) 

there are kosher options in las vegas.  other than that you are limited to national brands.  keep in mind that most bread in that part of the country will NOT have a hechsher. 

[flyingace]

Thanks, so will definitely keep the Springhill for at least the Zion days. Maybe Hyatt Place in SGU for grand canyon day. Is the closest kosher options in Scottsdale which would be too far away?

Look for hotels in Grand Canyon itself for that night. If you don't make it all the way to Grand Canyon Wed afternoon, you can get good points options in Flagstaff, but then you need to drive to Grand Canyon in the morning.

[aarony]

if he is coming from Page, AZ then Flagstaff is way out of the way.  I would keep calling (888) 297-2757 to see if there is any last minute availability at the Canyon itself.  There are often cancellations and rooms open up.

Look for hotels in Grand Canyon itself for that night. If you don't make it all the way to Grand Canyon Wed afternoon, you can get good points options in Flagstaff, but then you need to drive to Grand Canyon in the morning.

[flyingace]

if he is coming from Page, AZ then Flagstaff is way out of the way.  I would keep calling (888) 297-2757 to see if there is any last minute availability at the Canyon itself.  There are often cancellations and rooms open up.

My bad. Scratch Flagstaff, I didn't check the map before posting.

[mimb]

Haven't fully planned out the itinerary yet so not exactly sure where I'd be coming from. Just trying to stay in springdale for Zion itself, and maybe somewhere else for other activities.

[flyingace]

Haven't fully planned out the itinerary yet so not exactly sure where I'd be coming from. Just trying to stay in springdale for Zion itself, and maybe somewhere else for other activities.

I would Mapquest (or Google maps) your destinations to lay out driving and sleeping stops before you look for hotels.

[TDR]

There's a chabad there. We did snowmobiling and loved it. We also visited the ice castles in Midway which was kind of cool, but mostly a tourist attraction. A car is certainly useful for Walmart, visiting Park City, etc. But depending on what else you do, you could probably get away without it

Looking to go to Deer Valley in Jan (staying at St regis). Which snowmobiling place did you do? Also considering the ice castles one day if I can squeeze it in. Planning on going Sun - Wed night, will  ski two days.
Also kosher food at walmart/grocery stores was totally ok?

[Ergel]

I would Mapquest (or Google maps) your destinations to lay out driving and sleeping stops before you look for hotels.

2010 called and wanted to know why you stole their maps

[mimb]

any review on which tours you used for antelope canyon? Feel like i've seen many people have gone with Ken's but interested in other options/prices